Sunday, February 12, 2012

Mystery Hat: Giveaway!

My latest LOVE from Learning Resources is a product called the Mystery Hat! I, personally, think you would be hard-pressed to find a more versatile learning tool for $17.99! There are SO many ways to adapt this for your class at so many grade levels, and maybe that's why I am so obsessed with it. Plus, it certainly makes review a lot less lackluster! Before I launch into all of the fun ways you can spice up your lessons with this fab hat, take a little peek at our Benchmark review session!

Here's the Mystery Hat in all of her glory. The red flaps on the inside are a teacher's dream, because they prevent peeking. The kids aren't able to eyeball the card like they would have to with a real hat (or a beach pail if you're ME). You can see my pretty pink pail that I used for a vocabulary activity last year... and you can see how visible the magnetic letters are. The Mystery Hat will make a great substitute the next time I engage in a little Miss Alaineus: Word Play. :)

Now, this is totally not high tech, and it's not the most original idea by far, but for a super easy review session, this really worked in a pinch! {I am knee-deep in two grad school classes, so I am a big fan of EASY and QUICK right now!} I pulled out my fun neon index cards, wrote comprehension related review questions on them, and then I folded them in half. Viola! Ready to review!

You honestly would have thought that I brought in inflatables and Justin Bieber. The kiddos were beyond excited! Of course, it certainly helped that we incorporated Sarah Cooley's "Cheerios"! This may have been the most exciting review session... ever. {We also spent some time playing "Are You Smarter Than a Third Grader" with our answer buzzers earlier in the week. This is also a very popular review activity in Room 13. Okay, so maybe it's a tie. They are both really fun to review with!}

As I said, there are LOTS of fun activities that you can do with the Mystery Hat! You could use it for sensory explorations, fun money practice, to choose partnerships, for grouping, working on alphabet or sight word activities, vocabulary, probability, revealing new topics with fun tangible objects, teaching predictions, and practicing just about anything else you can dream up!

Here's what you need to do to win a Mystery Hat for your classroom...

Leave a comment telling me how you would use the Mystery Hat! :) I'd love to hear!
"Like" Learning Resources on Facebook and tell them that One Extra Degree sent you!
Follow their blog, and tell them I sent you!
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77 comments:

Since my second graders are just beginning to test (after not having many tests in first grade), I think this would be a great review resource to use from day one in the classroom. What a fun, engaging way to review for tests.I follow Learning Resources on FB and told them you sent me. I also follow their blog. Sorry, I am not on Twitter. Thanks for the cool giveaway!

I would use the Mystery Hat (which I have so been loving since I saw it in my new LR catalog) for inferencing activities next year! How fun would it be to infer what is in the mystery hat!!! Alright, on my way to do all the other good stuff to win this awesome hat :) Thanks!!!

I would use the hat for show in tell. This nine weeks study is called Mysteries and Miracles. The children find one small item to place in a bag and give clues. The mystery hat would be way cooler.Thanks for this giveaway,Carolinebrantcc@bay.k12.fl.us

My brain is in overdrive with all of the was that I would use this with my Kindergartners...sight word practice, letter recognition, sound recognition, number recognition and for my high level kiddos I could hide a cut up sentence and have them put the pieces together to read the sentence...we could even hide our word of the day and magically unveil it during our morning meeting... Gini Sellers

I could use the mystery hat for when we are reviewing skills they have learned and I would pick a student from the hat to answer. It would give everyone a chance to answer and not the same people answering questions all the time.

Shoot - I would totally use this to help spice up our reviews for State Assessment Testing. When it comes to review sessions, I get an F- in creativity and fun. This could be exactly the push I need to pull myself out of this review rut and revamp our review sessions!

I would use the Mystery Hat to go along with Reading Street Unit Four for 4th grade which is about puzzles and mysteries. I would put clues about a famous person in there and my kids would try to guess the person. Or do the same type thing with vocab words. I would also use it to review for Science tests!

Hi Amanda:I would love to win this hat!(I really want to win it so I can find a stuffed bunny to go with it)I would use it for vocabulary practice... The students pull a word out of the hat and then they have to give clues until another student can guess the word.And, of course, it would be great to use when reviewing for The Test.

Since I have Kindergarteners, I think I would use the Mystery hat to choose Jobs or helpers. The class is always asking me who's turn is it. This would add to the suspense and possibly stop the questions because I would just refer to my hat!

Love this in so many ways! I could put a letter in and the students have to guess the letter of the week! Or I could put my sight words in the hat and if they know it they can keep the card, if not, they have to put it back. The one with the most cards wins. Cherylcener(at)sbcglobal(dot)netCrayons and Curls

I would use the mystery hat as a prayer request hat! We do that with a jar already, but it would be more fun with the mystery hat! My son and I put the names of people we want to to pray for on small pieces pieces of paper that we fold. And we pick one name everyday to pray for that person. Our Lord Jesus has been so faithful to get some of the prayers answered already and it built the faith of our child.

Wow~ so many great ideas shared already....it's hard to pick one! I really like the fact that is so versatile for different grade levels! I typically work with preschoolers but am currently student teaching with 3rd graders. I would def use it now to help with ISAT prep and for mastering math facts. Love the possibilities!

So many ideas for this hat. I was thinking of using it as a behavioral management tool. Each child who goes above and beyond can put their name in the hat and then whoevers name is drawn will receive a super reward for their efforts. All homework and assignments must also be done to be entered into the hat.

So many ways to use the mystery hat...it's a mystery! Anyway, one of my first thoughts would be to use it with my classroom management plan. I have a number chart (1-100) on the board and each time the students get a compliment, a student draws a # out of a box (this is where the mystery hat comes in to hold the #'s) and then that # is crossed off on the # chart. Once the students have a row of #'s crossed off, they win a class party. OR...I could use it for multiplication/division (fold up papers with problems on it). I think there are soooo many ways to use the M.H.

I would use the mystery hat to practice fact families, science vocabulary, spelling words and social studies vocabulary. I would also use it to play charades/ Taboo to review synonyms and antonyms. Oooooo, how fun!

I think I would use this hat in my mystery unit. It would be so much fun to revel the mystery of the day, a clue left behind, or mystery series you will introduce. I also think it would be fun to give a number of the day in math. There are really so many easy and fun ways to use this. Shannonteachingreef@gmail.com

I am a resource special education teacher for 3rd and 4th grade. Many of my students struggle with retaining their math facts, which affects their ability to master math computation skills. This hat would be great for randomly pulling out math facts during the day and constantly exposing them to these facts. Great idea!!!

I would use the Mystery Hat for so many things; to hold a "mystery item" from an upcoming unit, to hold cards for games, as a reward that the children earn (I'd surprise them with a goodie picked out of the hat), etc. The possibilities are endless! I love it!